Good morning people! It’s so nice to greet you again. After the tour I gave you through Bali through sheldrysaez.com, it's time to show you the other wonderful destinations I visited in Indonesia.
I’m talking about Yogyakarta and Jakarta. After visiting Bali Shopping Mall, we went to the airport and in two hours we arrived in this city known as the city of education. It is the smallest in Indonesia, has 3.5 million inhabitants and its form of government is the sultanate. YOGYAKARTA is very spiritual and proofs of it are the two great temples that are here, the Prambanan and Borobudur.
It caught my attention to listen that despite being considered as the city of learning, where many students move to undertake their studies, the unemployment rate is the highest in Indonesia.
We arrived directly to the hotel, the MELIÁ YOGYAKARTA HOTEL and after a necessary rest of a couple of hours, we went out to dinner in BECAK, a three wheeled transport that is commonly found in Indonesia and also in parts of Asia. Their normal capacities are two passengers and a driver. It produces an incredible feeling of freedom and adrenaline. I loved it!
Our first day of sightseeing in Yogyakarta, we started at MALIOBORO STREET, a traditional market and a favorite place for tourists to shop. This street is some sort of Central or Calidonia in Panamanian language. You can find Indonesian souvenirs for your loved ones at very affordable prices.
Then we visited the PRAMBANAN, with more than 200 Hindu temples is a must stop for all tourists as it is one of the most impressive temples in Indonesia. Candi Prambanan is 47 meters high, which makes it the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and even in Southeast Asia. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991. A true beauty!
We met many students in this temple, and we took a lot of pictures with them. In Indonesia, they easily ask for a photo if you have foreign traits. And in my case, being introduced as Miss Panama, the reaction of the people was very flattering. I am so grateful for the treatment they gave us, we felt at home.
Our second day in Yogyakarta started with the visit to SULTANATO. The current ruler of Yogyakarta is Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, inherited from his father. He is 71, has a wife and 5 female daughters. The Sultanate is in the center of Yogyakarta and it is called "Kraton or the palace of the Sultan". It sounds like a luxurious place but on the contrary, the facilities of the palace of the Sultan are quite simple. But something that’s for sure is that it is full of history and traditions.
The palace, being a much visited place in Yogyakarta by tourists, has guides that explain the form of government of this city and teach you every room of the place. It is surprising the whole subject about the Sultanate, the Sultan is allowed to have up to 4 wives and the first, which is the main, must give her approval to the other wives.
From the moment you walk in you can notice the guards who are a representation of the guards from yore, they are gentlemen who remain seated, either talking or playing. It’s said that they are people who, having no job, occupy their time in the Sultanate.
Another thing that caught my attention was the music you hear along the way. Very interesting! They are a large group of musicians who play for the Sultan, whom you hardly see in the hallways of the palace, since it is kept in the area of his house.
I also remember the genealogical tree of the sultans who have passed through the history of Yogyakarta, where women are the leaves and men are the fruits. It is not a mystery that it is a rather sexist culture where religion exerts a lot of pressure.
On my visit, I had the opportunity to dress in the traditional dress worn by Indonesians at the time of their wedding and it was spectacular. Traditional dress is still prevalent in rural areas and is especially important throughout Indonesia for ceremonial occasions. For both men and women, traditional Indonesian clothing includes a lower body shell called Kain (a length of rectangular cloth, usually in batik) or a sarong (a length of cloth with the ends sewn together, more often in ikat).
Later, with this same dress, I met THE TAMAN SARI (Water Castle) which is a complex of swimming pools and palaces that was originally used by the sultan as a recreation area. It was built by a Portuguese architect and is said to have secret rooms.
The day ended at the spa (Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa) which of course was like a massage given by the gods. We slept very relaxed and early as the next day we had to get up really early to know BOROBUDUR, a sanctuary and place of Buddhist pilgrimage.
It is the largest Buddhist monument in the world and the most visited place in Indonesia. It was very exciting to get to know it! Despite its strict dressing rules, and the limitations due to great respect and spirituality, this visit is greatly enjoyed. First, when arriving in the early hours of the morning and going up to the temple in the dark, you will enjoy the amazing sunrise with an incredible view to the island of Java and it exposes the majestic infrastructure of Borobudur. The monument consists of six square platforms crowned by three circular platforms, and is decorated by 2672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. Out of these statues, many heads have been stolen.
We met a lot of tourists, many of them, were meant to carry out their meditation. After the visit to the temple, we had breakfast overlooking Borobudur. We also did my Get Inspire LIVE where more than 15,000 viewers could appreciate this unique landscape in the world.
This way we close our visit to Yogyakarta. We took a flight for two more hours to JAKARTA, capital of Indonesia. It is the most populated city in Indonesia, located on the island of Java. It has a population of 10.1 million people, adding up to 30 million in its metropolitan area. Jakarta is the fourth most populated city on the planet. It is the political, industrial and financial center of the country. 86% of the inhabitants of Jakarta are Muslims.
Despite the delay in traffic, we arrived on time for our dinner at TUGU KUNSTKRING PALEIS, former Buddha Bar. Kunstkring art gallery is a heritage building located in the center of Jakarta. The fact that they transformed the ground floor into a private bar generated public controversy. There were protests from some Buddhists who considered the name of the bar insulting. In 2011, the owners redesigned the concept of the building.
This was one of my favorite restaurants of the whole trip, the place is beautiful. We had dinner with the most famous comedian in Indonesia and among the things I enjoyed most out of this place was the unexpected entrance of an Asian dancer with a fan, a dance that is presented when ordering a specific dish from the menu.
We stayed at the BOROBUDUR JAKARTA HOTEL, a luxury hotel. We only had one day in this big city, so our sightseeing was short. We visited KOTA TUA JAKARTA (Old City of Jakarta), a neighborhood comprising the original city center of Jakarta, Indonesia. Also known as "Dutch Batavia", people are seen riding phosphorescent bicycles with hats of the same color of the bicycle remembering the Dutch. Then we toured INDONESIAN PLAZA where most of the luxury brands and international brands have launched their first Indonesian shop. What a great mall, is immense and very elegant.
We couldn’t leave Jakarta without first visiting the Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa in the capital of Indonesia, where we received a reflexology treatment and gifts from the owners. We also had the opportunity to meet Karina Dila, Miss Supranational Indonesia 2017.
Undoubtedly, Yogyakarta is culture and Jakarta is modernity.
We headed to the airport and began our return to Panama City: two hours to Malasya, twelve hours to Amsterdam and then ten hours to Panama.
I take the best impressions of this country that welcomed us with open arms. I’d like to take our last blog post on my trip to Indonesia, to thank Rafa, representative of the Indonesian Embassy in Panama, who accompanied us in this experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I extend my thanks to Terri, embassy diplomat; And of course, to His Excellency Ambassador Budhy Santoso. Thanks to each of the people who gave me such a special treatment in Indonesia, thanks for that love that makes all of you really special and great. Thanks to my dear Daniela Castro (@ptyalien) who accompanied me on this adventure to bring you, through sheldrysaez.com, the most spectacular landscapes and moments of the trip on the other side of the world.
I hope that you, like me, have enjoyed every picture, every description and every video, because traveling is daydreaming, is about leaving your comfort zone and opening your mind. A trip is made three times: when you dream it, when you live it and when you remember it.
Remember it with me.
Kisses,
Escribe la vida que deseas y organízate para lograrla. Recuerda que tu marca personal es la marca más importante de todas.
IR A TIENDA¡Inspirando a mujeres a organizarse para su Proyecto de Vida!
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